


tonight let's shed our skins

by janie_tangerine



Category: X-Factor (Comics)
Genre: Canon Related, M/M, Missing Scene, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Shower Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-05 22:54:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1099543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janie_tangerine/pseuds/janie_tangerine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>where after leaving Rahne with Tier and Jack Russel, Rictor and Shatterstar decide they earned a break.</p>
            </blockquote>





	tonight let's shed our skins

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rekall](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rekall/gifts).



They’ve walked in silence for a handful of minutes through the forest when ‘Star finally stops and lets his blades out of the sheaths.

 

“Very well. When you’re ready to go –”

 

“Actually, I think we shouldn’t go back for now.”

 

‘Star looks at Rictor as if he’s heard wrong, which – well, he has all reasons to. It’s not like he has somehow stated out loud what he has been thinking since they left Rahne and her kid in the safe house.

 

“We – we shouldn’t? I don’t understand, do you want to go back?”

 

“No, not that either. I think Rahne made it clear that she wants some time for herself back there. I meant – listen, with all the crap that’s happened lately, when was that we had some time on our own last? Hell, when was the last time we ever took a break?”

 

‘Star looks at him, evidently pondering the question. “I Know what you mean, but I fail to see what it has to do with not going back to New York.”

 

“If we go back now, I can bet money there’ll be some case to work through or some new crazy psycho to fight or what have you. Madrox can do without us for a bit. It’s not like we had a deadline to do this. We can take a couple days off and go – somewhere else. Just the two of us. I mean, fuck, when’s the last time we did that either?”

 

“But when we were in Mexico –”

 

“Yeah, not counting the time we were, y’know, taking out arm dealers.”

 

It doesn’t take ‘Star two seconds to answer that specific question. “Never, if you put it in those terms. What were you thinking about?”

 

“Uh, well, I did work with X-Corp in Paris at some point. Didn’t really last that long, but I remember a couple of nice hotels. We could get over there and stay for a bit? I mean, it’s not like we have to play tourist or crap like that, but – who knows when we’re going to have the occasion to do it again? I mean, if I went and asked Madrox for vacation days he’d laugh in my face.”

 

He’s painfully aware that the way he’s phrasing it, it doesn’t look like the greatest option ever, but isn’t part of the problem that he’s never actually done this kind of thing before with anyone? And he really wants to do it with ‘Star now. Fuck knows if they earned a break, and if only ‘Star would stop looking as if he’s pondering one of the secrets of the universe as he thinks about it –

 

“You’re right. He _would_ probably laugh in our faces if we ever did that. And – it sounds good.”

 

“Yeah? Great. So, uh –”

 

“You can think about your _nice hotels_ ,” ‘Star cuts him, looking endlessly amused for some reason. Right then. Ric closes his eyes and after doing a quick mental calculation and assuring himself that it’s probably the middle of the night in France and there’s not much chance that someone might see two people showing up out of thin air in the middle of the road he pictures the place he had slept the first couple of nights after he got there. It was a small hotel somewhere in what he had been told was the Latin Quarter – he can visualize the street pretty well, even if he can’t remember the name. It was next to a bookshop, that he remembers, and he also remembers that it had a room which might not have been huge but was damn comfortable – it had all the necessities, bathroom and television included, and for some reason it had felt pretty cozy for the two days he spent in it. He tries to remember as much as he can of the street as well while ‘Star’s hand presses against his forehead, and then it’s not there anymore.

 

Ric opens his eyes to see the by now familiar X shape in front of the both of them. He doesn’t blink before following ‘Star through it.

 

The first thing he thinks as he walks out into the Parisian night is _thank fuck I was right about the time zones_. The street is entirely dark except for a single room – the light turns on a moment after ‘Star’s portal has disappeared. Someone looks outside before closing the window – they probably saw the flash of light, but weren’t quick enough to actually see them walking through. Good thing at that. The hotel is where he remembered it – next to the closed bookshop.

 

“Well, good thing I keep my credit card in my inner pocket,” he mutters to himself. “Right. We’re good. Hide the swords and I can go book us a room.”

 

‘Star does while he walks inside – the man at the reception is clearly weirded out by two people who are very definitely dirty with woods soil and without any luggage, not to mention that ‘Star’s attire isn’t exactly casual, but when he sees that Rictor’s credit card is in fact valid he’s all smiles and _please call us down at the reception if you need anything_.

 

Considering that he went for the most pricey room on the list, he has good reason to play nice, but then again what good is X-Factor’s regular (if not loaded) paycheck if he can’t spend it on something nice once in a while? The room is at the top floor and while ‘Star goes for the stairs without even blinking because _extra exercise is never bad_ , Rictor has to disappoint him and go for the elevator. He’s too dead tired to walk up until the fucking fifth floor.

 

 _Clearly_ ‘Star is waiting for him outside it when it gets to the top. Not that he’s anywhere near surprised.

 

“How are you not even out of breath? Nah, don’t answer me. I’m not even sure I want to know. Right, room 56 it is.” He grimaces when he sees traces of dirt on his white key pass. Right, no one’s going to sleep without showering first, but then again _that_ could be interesting. He’s grinning to himself as he walks inside the room and holds the door open for ‘Star while he searches for the light switch. As finds it and turns the light on, he hears the door close and ‘Star’s frame pressing against his back, an arm casually going around his waist, and he leans back into it without even thinking about it.

 

“You were right,” ‘Star says from behind him, “it _is_ quite nice.”

 

Nothing to argue there. It’s bigger than the one he had used the last time, goes unsaid, but it’s not just that. The furniture is more or less standard, same as he remembers, except that the bed is a lot bigger – it could house at least four people pretty comfortably. There’s a television, all right, along with a minibar, a hot water boiler with a selection of teas in a basket next to it and right, there’s also a door at his left presumably leading to the bathroom. What makes it _nice_ , though, are the details. The bed is covered in a soft lilac quilt that _really_ does make it look cozy, and he can smell lavender – there must be some under the pillows. There are honest to God bathrobes laid on it along with the towels. The few fake paintings hung on the walls – he thinks one has to be a fake Van Gogh, the others he can’t recall – do help in making it look like a nice hotel room rather than someplace you just go to sleep at night. The view definitely sells it though – it didn’t look like it from the outside, but the building is high enough that they can see most of the rooftops of the area in front of them, with Notre Dame somewhere in the distance, and – well. It _really_ looks quite breathtaking.

 

“Definitely worth my savings,” Rictor agrees, his hand going to the wrist ‘Star has on his side. “And since I guess the sheets aren’t crappy quality, maybe we should wash before using them.”

 

“Are you suggesting that we try out the shower at the same time?”

 

“Why, you think that’s a bad idea?” Rictor doesn’t even try not to snort as he asks it – of course it isn’t. They just never do it much back home because no one ever lets them use whichever bathroom long enough, so unless it’s the middle of the night there’s no way they could finish what they start.

 

There’s no one here though. Specifically, no one who’d complain because _they really take more time for a shower than all the women in the building put together_.

 

“I think it’s – ah, I think it’s quite swell, actually,” ‘Star replies, sounding slightly out of breath as Ric turns so that they’re facing each other, ‘Star’s back across the bathroom door.

 

“ _Swell_? Where did you learn that, Steve Rogers?” They’re so very close now, ‘Star’s warmth creeping through the dirty leather. Damn, they even smell of earth. Not that Ric minds that, of course, but they really should wash it off.

 

“No. There was a classic Hollywood marathon on a few days before we left and it sounded like a nice –”

 

He never finishes that sentence – Ric has surged up and kissed him before he can, and fine, maybe pushing on the bathroom’s handle _then_ was a pretty fucking stupid idea because ‘Star wasn’t expecting it and he falls backwards bringing him down with, but then again the first nice surprise is that the floor is covered in some kind of plush carpet everywhere except around the bathtub and the shower, and the bathroom is actually _big_ , so there’s nothing in the way of ‘Star’s head. Not that it ever hits the carpet – Rictor has no clue of what move it even is, but midway through the fall ‘Star turns their position so that Ric is the one falling down first.

 

Not that he didn’t deserve it. And he’s too busy kissing the living daylights out of ‘Star to worry about the mild pain he felt when his back hit the ground – they haven’t properly made out in fuck knows how long, and ‘Star weighing next to nothing means that he’s perfectly okay with being below him as they do. He reaches up and buries a hand into the hair at the back of ‘Star’s head, not that it’s long enough to grab but it’s fine because he just wants to feel it, and the moment ‘Star’s hands go to his sides and his hips push slightly upwards he moans into the kiss, thinking that he really could do this for hours.

 

Except that he can feel how hard ‘Star is, and he’s getting there pretty quickly with the friction and all, so he reluctantly breaks the kiss and moves his hands to the lapels of ‘Star’s jacket.

 

“Shower. Now. If we don’t, I really don’t wanna have to meet the maid who’ll have to clean the carpet tomorrow.”

 

‘Star rolls to the ground next to him with a grunt of displeasure, but it’s really better if they do this without touching each other or the clothes are going to get ripped and it’s not like they have a change with them. Ric makes quick work of kicking away his shoes – he throws his jeans, jacket and shirt in the room’s corner. By the time he’s done ‘Star is folding the jacket – right. Can’t be too careful when you have swords in your sleeves. Well then, he should just get the water started. He steps into the cubicle – the shower is big enough for the two of them, there’s the usual hotel soap and shampoo all neatly lined inside and… there’s a fucking _radio_ in it?

 

“I can’t even believe this,” he mutters as he turns the water on, trying to get it to a safe mid-warm temperature.

 

“You can’t believe what?”

 

He hears the cubicle door closing as ‘Star walks inside as well – now it feels a lot more narrow, but it’s still big enough that they can move comfortably.

 

“There’s a fucking radio inside. Doesn’t this stuff get ruined if you throw water at it?”

 

Instead of answering, ‘Star reaches out and turns it on, wet hands and all – the thing has to be proofed since neither of them gets electrocuted as the warm water from the jet hits the two of them and the radio at once. It’s some station clearly airing just French music, but it doesn’t sound entirely bad at all and Ric had other plans than figuring out the radio.

 

So before ‘Star can get too cozy with it and starts changing stations he turns and kisses him again, turning so that ‘Star’s back is against the cubicle opposite the wall with the radio and they’re directly under the stream of water. Damn, just feeling it running across his back is already making him feel less tired.

 

Damn if this isn’t nice, he thinks as ‘Star’s hands go up and down his back. They should try and do it more often back home. Patience if it has to be the middle of the night.

 

Not to mention that he’s feeling how hard ‘Star exactly is right now against his thigh, and he thinks he’s got better plans than just rubbing against each other. So he reluctantly moves away from ‘Star’s mouth and takes half a step back before glancing behind him. Right. It’s big enough that he can kneel somewhat comfortably.

 

“Julio, what –”

 

“How about you relax and let me do the work here?”

 

Fine, maybe he could have knelt more gracefully, but it’s still sort of cramped and he can’t afford to do it slowly or while he kisses down ‘Star’s frame – next time maybe. He kisses ‘Star’s left hip, moving all the way to the middle of his stomach and to the other side after wrapping his fingers around his cock, giving a shallow stroke once in a while, and by the time he’s biting a hickey into the soft flesh at ‘Star’s right hip, there are long fingers buried in his hair and he can hear ‘Star moaning above him, even if it’s somewhat muffled by both water and the radio playing. Even better, means no one is gonna hear them if they’re sleeping next door. He smirks slightly to himself before he figures it’s time to stop teasing – he leans downwards, moving his hand away from ‘Star’s erection and taking the tip into his mouth. He’s going to have to go slow since he’s almost fully hard already and he’s never going to be able to take it all, but he’s pretty sure ‘Star isn’t going to last that long in the first place. His hands grab upwards on ‘Star’s hips as he takes a bit more in and starts sucking in earnest – ‘Star’s grip at his hair goes slightly tighter but he doesn’t mind at all. He goes all the way until he’s taken ‘Star halfway in and then runs his tongue along the length, wrapping one of his hands around the rest, and – right. It takes another few shallow thrusts into his mouth before ‘Star is going rigid and coming inside it, and he was waiting for it – he swallows what he can and even after he moves away he keeps his fingers where they are and keeps on stroking ‘Star through it. He’s still painfully hard but he can ignore it for the moment.

 

He can hear ‘Star taking deep breaths, too, and he’s about to stand up when one of ‘Star’s hands moves away. The other had a lax grip on his admittedly very dirty hair, but it tightens again and so he doesn’t move. He doesn’t have to wait too long since ‘Star’s hand is back in his hair moments later. Apparently covered in shampoo.

 

“For real?” He’s kind of laughing against ‘Star’s hip, but feeling ‘Star’s fingers massaging his scalp isn’t anything he’ll ever complain about.

 

“You were in a perfect position,” ‘Star replies from above, and he sounds a bit breathless still so at least he has the decency not to have recovered yet. Good thing at that. He figures he might as well enjoy it and so he stays where he is until his hair has been rinsed twice, and then he decides that it was more than enough.

 

“Right. I think it’s clean now, y’know,” he says as he stands up slowly, making sure he doesn’t accidentally bang his head anywhere. Especially since he’s feeling slightly dizzy. “And hand that over, I’m not going to be the only one with clean hair here.”

 

“You still haven’t –”

 

“I can wait a minute.” He takes the half-empty bottle of hotel-brand shampoo and pours some into his palm, rubs his hands together and moves them to the back of ‘Star’s head, relishing in the small moan coming from ‘Star’s mouth the moment he starts rubbing soapy circles into the back of his head. He figures it’s better if they don’t kiss when they have shampoo running down both their faces, which is why he makes a quick work of it. He’s not going to deny the advantages of the short hair. By the time he’s done, though, he really can’t ignore his aching erection anymore – he’s trying not to let himself go in virtue of the friction against ‘Star’s leg, but it’s not going to last that long.

 

“Right,” he breathes out, “’m not really gonna last, you mind giving me a hand?”

 

“I wouldn’t, but is that all you can think of?” ‘Star sound this close to smug by now.

 

“I – what?”

 

“There was hand lotion on the sink,” ‘Star answers before shoving the tube into his hand.

 

“You sure? I mean, you already –” He doesn’t even finish the sentence because ‘Star is looking at him as if he’s daring him to complete the most stupid sentence in the universe, so all right. “Okay then. Can’t say the option isn’t tempting,” he says against ‘Star’s mouth instead, and then he pops the lotion’s cap open and pours some on his fingers just before ‘Star puts his arms around his shoulders and his legs wrap around Ric’s waist, and damn if he’s never getting over the part where if he keeps an arm around ‘Star’s back it’s enough to keep them in the perfect position for the fingers on his free hand to slip inside him. He pushes just one in first, and in between the lotion and the already wet skin on the outside it slips in quite easily. He works in a second and a third quickly enough, taking care to go as slow as needed, and when ‘Star mutters under his breath that it’s _fine_ and he should go for it he’s almost at the end of his rope. He quickly pours some more lotion on his palm and coats his cock in it as clinically as he can – if he comes just _now_ it’s seriously going to be the bad kind of hilarious – and then pushes in, forcing himself not to do it at once as he’s sorely tempted. Not that ‘Star would complain – he knows he wouldn’t – but no reason not to make things as comfortable as he can. When he’s finally all the way in he takes a moment to get his bearings – he knows he’s not going to last, not when ‘Star is hot and tight around him and he was this close even before then, but he kind of wants to commit the moment to memory. He doubts they’re going to have that many more occasions to be like this in peace when they go back to New York and everything just _fits_ right now – the ever warm water running along his back and his hair, ‘Star’s soft wet hair against his cheek and the way they seem to fit so well together while that stupid French music keeps playing in the background. Not to mention that right now they’re not even using the wall for leverage.

 

“Don’t you dare falling asleep on me now.” Right. Clearly ‘Star had to go break his _moment_ but then again he’s kind of right.

 

“Dios, one’d think _you_ were in a hurry,” Ric replies, and then starts thrusting, ‘Star’s fingers gripping at his shoulders as he tries to ease in and out slowly, but it’s a short-lived prospect. In moments he’s picked up his pace, ‘Star moaning his name against his shoulder, and _maybe_ he feels the walls of the shower’s cubicle tremble ever so slightly when he finally comes with a last, deep thrust, but it might just have been him getting caught up in the moment. It’s not as if when it happens he’s not way beyond coherent thought.

 

The two of them are kneeling down on the shower floor and he’s still getting down from the high when ‘Star voice breaks through the radio and the stream’s noise.

“How haven’t we finished the hot water already?”

 

“I guess fancy hotels like this don’t have that problem. But yeah, we probably should get out of here. Ah, shit.”

  
“What?”

 

“We should’ve brought the towels inside _before_.”

 

‘Star rolls his eyes and stands up, turning off the water stream and the radio – they had been under it enough that they’re both clean of any residual fluids. “I will go get them then.”

 

Ric is about to say _I could kiss you_ , then doesn’t because he’d do it since he _can_ , and they’d freeze in here before either of them has gotten any towels. ‘Star leaves the shower cubicle, quickly dries his feet with a spare towel that was folded on a cupboard and heads out into the room, coming back wearing the hotel’s white bathrobe. He throws Rictor the other and he’s quickly to put it on – damn, the thing is soft. It feels pretty good to have it on. Now that at least he’s not naked he goes to grab the other folded towel on the bed and uses it to dry his hair at least some and then he throws it on the ground when he’s not dripping water any more.

 

The moment he sits on the bed next to ‘Star, who had been there for a while (but then again his hair is already dry), he feels all the tiredness of the last few days catch up to him – he hadn’t felt it that much until this point, in between the shower and the post-awesome-sex-in-it afterglow, but now that the latter is fading he feels like going to sleep for a solid eighteen hours.

 

Then he looks out of the window and realizes that it had to be a lot later than he had assumed when they got here, since he can see the sky turning from dark blue to violet in the distance.

 

“I was about to say I could sleep through the whole day. Guess it’s going to be literal, isn’t it?”

 

“It doesn’t seem like a bad prospect,” ‘Star replies wistfully, and – right. It’s not as if he’s going to, since he’s never slept more than six hours at once since they met. Probably since ever.

 

“I could compromise, though.”

 

“Meaning?”

 

Rictor spares a last glance at the sunrise, then reaches down and covers ‘Star’s hand with his. “I could settle with sleeping until midday or whatever. After that… fuck, we’re on vacation. We could go around, see stuff and get breakfast somewhere. Or lunch. Whatever it is. Or we could get room service, tell the maid not to come in until tomorrow and ruin a couple sets of sheets. Just please forget the run at seven in the fucking morning when we don’t even have a change of clothes. Guess we should buy it at some point.”

 

“I can forget the morning run if we don’t waste the entire afternoon having _lunch_.”

 

Ric doesn’t even fight the impulse to roll his eyes. “Fine, you win, we’re not wasting the afternoon eating fancy French food as long as you spend six full hours in that bed. We have a deal?”

 

“I think we do,” ‘Star replies softly, and right, maybe they should get rid of the half-wet bathrobes while they’re at it. Rictor stands up so that he can close the blinds – he can look at the sunrise properly tomorrow when he’s not asleep on his feet, and when he’s done he drops the bathrobe on the nearest chair. ‘Star has done the same with his and he’s already under the covers, so he joins him after turning off the light. There’s a bit of fumbling – he’s not used to a bed this big and the lavender smell is sort of distracting, but it’s not long before they settle, ‘Star’s arm around his waist and short, slightly damp hair against the hollow of his neck.

 

“I have to stand corrected,” ‘Star says suddenly, just when Ric was sure he had gone to sleep – he usually doesn’t take that long.

 

“About what?”

 

“When you said we should have come here, I thought that it sounded good but that it really wasn’t necessary.”

 

“Oh, and now?”

 

“Now I think that maybe we should take a whole week off.”

 

Ric can’t help laughing a bit at that, and he moves so that they’re properly facing each other. “Yeah? Well, I can’t see anything wrong with that.”

 

“Still, maybe it’s too long of –”

 

“I really think they can do without our precious help for a bit. I still think we deserve a break. We could do a week. And we could take full advantage of it.”

 

“Shouldn’t we have a travel guide then?”

 

Rictor isn’t really fighting the grin that won’t leave his mouth be anytime soon.

 

“That’s fine, we can buy one tomorrow. You can pick what we do for the first three days and I pick the last three.”

 

“Weren’t we staying for seven?”

 

“Yeah, I figured we _could_ spend one of them getting room service and watching bad French television without understanding anything. Sounds good?”

 

“It sounds great,” ‘Star agrees, and he really does sound excited about it. Fuck, Ric Is feeling like this was the best idea he ever had, and maybe they do need some time on their own just doing stuff for the heck of it, and so if he goes for a kiss all over again just because he really wants to kiss ‘Star right now then why not? It’s not the heated kind of kiss because they’re both too tired for it, but he’s still a little breathless when it’s over.

 

“Oh,” ‘Star says a moment later, “I think I know one place where I’d like to go.”

 

“Really? Shoot then. Let me guess, you saw that in a movie.”

 

“Well, yes? It was nice though. It was a bridge where people leave lockets with their names on it and then throw the key in the river. Maybe we could do that?”

 

Right, Rictor hasn’t seen that movie but he thinks he knows what’s the deal. Also it sounds like the kind of thing stupid teenagers in love do, but when did they have time to be stupid teenagers?

 

“Not the part where you throw the key in the river. I think that’s kinda forbidden and the last thing I want is having to ask Jamie to pay our fines, but for the rest I don’t see why not. You can keep the key I guess.”

 

“That would be an acceptable compromise,” ‘Star says after thinking about it a moment, and Ric can feel him grinning since he has a hand on his cheek, and he already knows that even if they end up spending a week doing ridiculous shit that will make the locals frown and shake their head in compassion he’s going to enjoy every second of it. This really was one of the best damned ideas he ever had.

 

And maybe after they’re back and enough time has passed, they might try to do it more often.

 

End.

**Author's Note:**

> I was looking for treats to write and those two prompts caught my eye - I hope you like it. ~~also this is the first time I try and publish something for this fandom so I hope it's decent~~ :) (Title is from Bruce Springsteen and nothing belongs to me.)


End file.
